How many of you own a fuel-based car? How many of you take pointless 2-minute drives to the shops? How many of you are too lazy to walk so you drive everywhere? And finally, How many of you care about our environment? Because your answers to these questions will reflect it, as car emissions are a major impact in affecting climate change and not for a good reason.
How are car emissions affecting climate change?
For many people, the journey to and from work is the bookend of the daily grind. But how we choose to travel to the office, is the main problem:
In England, 77% of adults aged 17 and over have a full driving license, this means that there are approximately 34.8 million people on the road emitting 170.5 grams of CO2 per kilometre which has drastically increased from 2020 where every car was emitting 138.4 per kilometre. These statistics make you think about how your daily actions can have such a major impact on the planet. By 2100 the planet's temperature will continue to rise at a staggered rate due to things such as carbon emissions, which can easily be reduced. However, these also impact habitats for example climate change is currently impacting Polar bears having caused large amounts of Arctic sea ice to melt, leaving polar bears with smaller habitats to sustain themselves on. Assuming that by 2100 polar bears will become extinct unless greenhouse gases are reduced. Just have a second to reflect on how these actions are impacting the world and hopefully it can help you realise that we need to change our ways, to prevent the effects of climate change on our environment.
How can we prevent emissions from affecting climate change?
There are an endless amount of answers that will somehow or in some way slowly reduce emissions and greenhouse gases from affecting climate change. The clear solution would be to stop using your car for pointless needs. This can be from a 5 minutes drive to the shops or even a drive to clear your head, There are other alternatives, I think you may have heard before. It's called walking. This is so much better for reducing C02 in the environment and alternatively is a source of exercise. So we will be killing 2 birds with 1 stone. It's just a metaphor, I promise. A more popular way that is coming into fashion nowadays to reduce C02 emissions is to, change to an electric car. As cheaper models are coming out onto the market, it is becoming a popular solution.
However, switching from a gasoline or diesel-powered car to an electric vehicle can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 2 tons of C02e per year. And a hybrid vehicle can save you up to 700 kilograms of C02e per year. This would drastically reduce carbon emissions from spreading as currently 4.5 % of the UK drive an electric car and only 1.4% driving a hybrid showing a small improvement towards a massive goal.
Finally, consider your travel when it comes to holidays as Airplanes burn large amounts of fossil fuels, meaning taking fewer flights is one of the fastest ways to reduce the impact on our planet. From a business point of view, the introduction of online calls is a great way to meet with potential partners instead of flying for a face-to-face meeting. Or going to a destination like France there are many other ways to get to your destination bar plane such as a ferry or coach. Taking one less long-haul return flight can reduce your carbon footprint by up to almost 2 tons of CO2e
Speak up!
Throughout this article. I have given you numerous ways on reducing emissions and how we can play our part. But even though this may be the easiest, it's the most effective and it is to "speak up." As your voice can have a huge impact on others persuading them to join in taking action. This can be from talking to your parents, friends, neighbours, teachers, and colleagues. Climate change is a task for all of us to tackle, everyone is impacted and we can do it all by ourselves- but together we can.
Comments